RoLlErCoAsTeR rIdE...

So much to say. Well for starters a lot has happened in the last few days, and i apologize i have not updated as frequently as i would have liked.

Carter and Easton have sent us on an emotional roller coaster like few would believe. Back tracking from Friday to yesterday, in a nutshell, Carter was doing great, just relaxing and getting bigger. Carter made it to a whopping 1 pound 12.2 ounces, however some of it was fluid retention. Easton was nicknamed "pin cushion."
Over the last week 6 nurses attempted 8 times to get a P.I.C.C. (peripherally inserted central catheter) line started on the 1 pound 6.6 ounce "little peanut" as his mom likes to call him. Nurses were unsuccessful in getting a P.I.C.C. line started because no needles were small enough for Easton's little veins and each time one was introduced his vein would "blow". Poor "little peanut" has black and blue arms and legs and looks like he had a bad case of chicken pox from the stick marks. Even through the hard times Easton found a way to make us laugh, "He found his Wiener". So I have to explain this one. The other day Lauren was changing Easton's diaper and checking his temperature, and when we looked down i thought Lauren had wrapped up Easton's hand in his diaper. So i pulled his little hand out of his diaper and put it on his chest. Not thinking anything more of it we went to help the other nurse with Carter's care time. Five minutes later we came back to look at Easton and this is what we saw...

Easton had his left hand back in his pants. He was comfy and he didn't want to be disturbed!

Monday August 1st brought us a new month and new complications. For an unknown reason yesterday Carter decided to go downhill, and fast. Stacy Carter's nurse spent all day trying to keep his blood pressure at a safe level, which is 25-30.(how they get that number, I don't know) At times his blood pressure would dip as low as 12. Doctor's started Carter on Dopamine, Dobutamine, Morphine, Hydrocortisone, insulin, and antibiotics for a possible infection. After being on these medicines for a short time, his heart rate skyrocketed to about 215 beats per minute. (normal is 120-160). So with all the stress to his body, doctor's were trying to find something wrong other than the P.D.A. that was untreated. Doctor's did a head ultrasound which revealed no new bleeds, a chest x-ray said the same, and a blood culture after 24 hours said no infection. The only thing they saw was a wide open P.D.A. However the Doctor's wanted him to be stable and have a consistent B/P above 25. Which meant no Surgery for Carter, but without the surgery they could not control the blood pressure. Later that night, through the power of the Priesthood Carter was given a blessing, reassuring him and his family that he would stabilize and Dr. Du Bois would be able to successfully complete the P.D.A. ligation Tuesday. 

Easton was doing well, he had been consistent with his vitals and was resting comfortably, eating 1 milli-liter  of breast milk every three hours. Lauren and I headed home so I could prepare to start my new position at the State Capital. Before going to bed we had called the nurses to get the assurance that Carter had begun to stabilize as told in his blessing. Brandi, Carter's nurse had told us Carter was doing much better and if he would stay at that pace would indeed receive the operation Tuesday.

Tuesday morning came and I headed to my first day at my new office, while Lauren headed to the hospital with her mom. When Lauren got to the hospital, she raised our concerns about Easton getting an operation to get a broviac placed in his jugular in an attempt to take place of a P.I.C.C line. A broviac is a long term I.V. placed in a larger vessel in the body, in which blood, platelets, and other thicker fluids can be administered. Dr. Ajibola agreed saying he would call a surgeon. Easton's UVC (umbilical venous catheter) line was starting to ooze and needed to be removed. Usually UVC should not be in more than 7 days, however due to not having a P.I.C.C. Easton was on day 11. Dr. Curran, just happened to be a surgeon on duty with an opening in his schedule. He had accepted the request and was able to successfully insert the broviac for Easton. As of tonight Easton is recovering well from the surgery, wait for it, but looks as if he might have an intestinal infection, and we should know more tomorrow.

Mommy doesn't like seeing Carter with a crusty dry mouth.

Bois and his surgical staff worked diligently on Carter, just as they had done on Easton a week prior. Carter had finished his surgery with minimal blood loss and no complications. He is so drugged up that he will be out of it for the next day or two, but he is a fighter and will come back stronger than ever.

Thank you all so much for all of the kind words, support, love and prayers for us and our baby boys, Carter and Easton.